Wayne County Council spent more than three hours Aug. 25 scouring departmental budget requests for possible cuts.
Their efforts removed $440,094 from the published general fund budget, but there’s more to do before the budget’s final approval in October. The published budget began at $44,625,627 and the special meeting ended with it at $44,185,533.
Council has inflated the published budget to ensure the county receives the maximum levy it’s entitled to by state law. In its one-time expenditures line item, which usually is $3 million, council has slotted $6 million as a placeholder. Even subtracting the additional $3 million, the $41 million-plus figure exceeds the adopted 2025 general fund budget of $38,400,432, and it does not include any wage increases.
Commissioner Jeff Plasterer talked to council about legislative changes to the property tax system, indicating the state originally estimated the county would receive $1.4 million less in property tax money for the 2026 budget. That, however, has been offset about $800,000 because the legislature, in the session’s final hours, approved a 4% levy growth quotient, rather than eliminating it as planned. That would leave council needing to cut about $600,000 for 2026 from what it budgeted in 2025.
The majority of money cut Aug. 25 – $301,490 – came from vacant positions and denying requests either for new positions or increased salaries.
The coroner’s budget request took the biggest hit. In his request, Coroner Brent Meadows had elevated his position from part time to full time and included significant wage increases for his chief deputy and deputies. Council opposed the position becoming full time as they did with Meadows’ predecessor Kevin Fouche.
“There is a lot of work that goes into every call we have,” Meadows said. “It truly is a full-time job.”
Council returned the wages to their 2025 totals, knocking $95,543 from the budget, and will later consider increases for those positions when it discusses overall increases.
Meadows’ also requested $138,000 for purchase of a new vehicle, a new power cot for that vehicle and an additional cooler. Council removed that from the budget, saying it would consider the cooler when discussing capital purchases with its one-time money. The county’s fleet committee had recommended that no additional vehicle be purchased at this time.
The 2025 budget includes three new legal assistant positions for Circuit Court, Superior 1 and Superior 2. Council previously this year gave approval for Superior 1 to hire its legal assistant, with the understanding that person would assist the other two courts during trials or when staff takes time off. Therefore, council knocked the other two positions from the 2026 budget, reducing it $105,618.
Auditor Mark Hoelscher had a requested position removed from his budget, reducing it $56,535. Hoelscher requested the addition of an executive secretary who would be responsible for meeting minutes among other duties. Minutes are already handled by the commissioners’ office.
In the clerk’s office, a deputy position has been vacant, so it was removed from the budget, saving $37,659. Likewise, a part-time position in the treasurer’s office was removed at a $6,135 savings.
Council trimmed here and there, as well, for example lowering the commissioners budget’s animal welfare line item by $5,000 to $80,000. Commissioners contract with HELP the Animals to take animals from the county animal control office, paying $200 per dog and another $100 for its animals needing to be spayed or neutered before adoption.
Some of those cuts, however, were offset by increases, such as for Whitewater Community Television. The proposed budget included $32,000, an estimate of franchise fees the county would collect. However, since then, the county has entered a $5,000-a-month agreement with WCTV to livestream, record and store public meetings. In case that agreement is extended through 2026, the budget number was raised to $60,000.
Council plans another extended budget discussion during its regular Sept. 3 meeting.
A version of this article appeared in the September 3 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.